The Flash: Rock+Run Blog

Founded in 2008 by Giovanni Rossi, Blue Ice are passionate producers of the most streamlined mountaineering kit on the market. Based in Chamonix, at the heart of the beautiful Alps, Blue Ice are perfectly situated to develop and test their kit in its intended alpine environment. What started in a garage with friends has since developed into one of the market leading alpine equipment manufacturers with headquarters in both Les Houches (Chamonix region) and Salt Lake City. 

A climbing shoe is just a climbing shoe, right? Well, in recent years, with the growth of indoor climbing walls and competitions, climbing shoe manufacturers have started producing shoes specifically aimed at the indoor market. These shoes have been designed to target the typical, modern style of indoor climbing where volumes, smears and hooking are all par for the course. But, what’s unique about an indoor shoe and what is it good for? Here’s all you need to know. 

In February 2021, Lor Sabourin sent their first 5.14 on trad, clipping the chains on ‘East Coast Fist Bump’ (5.14a) in an ascent that wasn’t just a first for them but a first for the entire climbing community becoming the first non-binary climber to achieve the grade. This week’s video is a recently released Patagonia film that follows Sabourin as they tackle one of their hardest challenges to date in the sandstone canyons of northern Arizona.

Kahtoola are the leading name when it comes to packable and lightweight traction solutions. For the terrain and winter conditions that don’t quite justify a fully rated crampon, the Kahtoola spike collection is the perfect answer to any slippy slope or icy trek in the hills.

This week’s video is straight from the Churnet Valley where Lattice Training team members, Ollie Torr, Madeleine Cope and Rhoslyn Frugtniet explore the area’s most popular spots. Churnet’s sandstone conglomerate offers an exceptionally diverse style of climbing with pockets, slopers and minuscule pebbles all contributing to some truly unique problems.

This video follows Sophie, who has significant impairments but refuses to let that get in the way of achieving her goals.
Not only has she set herself the challenge of doing 30 new things before she turned 30. She also completed 30 climbs in 30 days with support from Climb LBG, to raise money for a local hospice.

Synonymous with Alex Megos, Tenaya are known for an incredible athlete line-up that speaks volumes about the quality of their climbing shoes. With Chris Sharma and Jimmy Webb joining the team in recent years, Tenaya look to be going from strength to strength, firmly establishing themselves as a market leader. This is thanks to Jose Gallego’s shoe designing prowess - Tenaya climbing shoes are some of the most technically engineered and performance orientated shoes on the market. Intuitive technologies like their SXR dynamics and Draxtor tightening system are particular performance perks.

In October 1986, Johnny Dawes made the first ascent of a climb which defined a generation, a pitch described by Paul Williams in his 1989 guidebook as being ‘of such appalling difficulty as to be almost beyond the realms of human comprehension’. The climb is, of course, The Indian Face E9 – a terrifying slab which claims centre stage on Cloggy (Clogwyn Du'r Arddu), a wall steeped in heritage, perched high on the sides of Snowdon. This short film proves a wonderful insight into the history of the route and the characters that ultimately shaped its story.

 

Co-founded in 2007 by Sheffield based bouldering masters; Ned Feehally and Dan Varian, Beastmaker started out as a simple solution to the pair’s lack of time for climbing on real rock whilst at university. In an attempt to maintain and strengthen their peak pulling performance, the pair had become obsessed with pushing their fingers to the limit, isolating individual digits and blasting out 2-hour sessions on a fingerboard. There was just one problem, the resin fingerboard they were using wasn’t conducive to their marathon sessions, causing blood blisters and various other skin problems. This pushed them to develop their own alternative – the Beastmaker.

This week’s video is a Wedge channel feature on British climbing legend, Ned Feehally. Having just released his first book, ‘Beastmaking’, Ned chats about everything from writing the book to training around the British weather and targeting his weaknesses.

Organic Climbing was founded by committed boulderer and geologist, Josh Helke, in the summer of 2003. Having worked in the outdoor industry as a writer, photographer and hold maker, Josh witnessed the very first bouldering crash pad come to market in the US.

Fingerboards are a great way to really specify your training and precisely target weaknesses in a particular grip or finger group. Find out here who should use them and how to use them safely and effectively.